Titan is........

Titan is .....Ours!!!! We were able to finalize his adoption on Aug 29th. The picture above is us with the judge, right after the adoption was finalized, in Dallas Texas. Then, finally, we took him to the Mesa, Arizona Temple to be sealed to us for all eternity. I cried the whole time in the Temple! Titan did very well and did not fuss or get startled in the Temple. He was a perfect little angle, as usual.

The picture above is out side the Mesa Arizona Temple, after Titan was sealed to us for all eternity Sept 20, 2008. The picture below is the next day at church when Dixon gave him a name and blessing.

Titan is ....Talking. He says "Daddy", "uh-oh" and "Hi" many times each day. He also says "AAAAAAHHH" which means "I want" (and I think "Nan" is mommy, but he doesn't say it very often so it may have been his way of saying mommy just for that one day) Titan likes to talk and tell you all about his day. He will look straight at you and say something completely incomprehensible in a very casual tone and then wait for you to say something back. He is literally having a conversation with you in his own language.

Titan is ....Standing. Just barely. Yesterday he started to straighten himself up from a bear-crawl position and then tried to balance on his feet. He can stand for about 20 seconds at a time now.

Titan is ....Teething. He now has eleven teeth. He has had the front eight teeth for a while now. Last week THREE molars started cutting through his gums all at once. He has been a bit grumpy and clingy, but he is normally so sweet that his grumpy and clingy is any other baby's normal attitude.

Titan is....the sweetest little thing. Titan loves to make everyone laugh. He likes to put on hats (or helmets) and give you a look that says "aren't I cute?" so you absolutely have to smile and laugh at him. He has a duck bath towel. Many times he has seen it on the hook and said "AAAAHH". He likes to put it on and then look in the mirror and smile. He does the same thing with his Lion Halloween costume. He will also crawl up to you with his mouth half open and give you a slobbery kiss then lay his head on your shoulder and pat your back. A moment later he is running around like what he just did was nothing unusual......just another part of his day.

Titan is ....Happy. Titan is almost always smiling. He has been the easiest baby I have ever known ( and I have known a lot of babies) Since the day he was born he has only cried if something was wrong, like he was hungry or needed a diaper change.

Titan is .....a Book worm. Titan loves books. At first he loved to just look at them as I held him and read a story to him. Then he learned to turn pages and touch the "see and feel" parts of the book. Then he learned to hold the book himself and turn pages too. He loves to find a book and "read" it (babble while turning pages).

Titan is .....a Daddy's boy. Every day when Daddy gets home from work Titan goes straight to him and won't let get for a good hour. If we are both around, Titan always goes to Daddy and gets upset if I take him from Dixon. We have a morning ritual (if we are awake in time) of waving good-bye to Daddy as he peddles away on his bike when he goes to work.

Titan is....a Good Eater. Titan eats everything. He loves fruits and breads the most. He doesn't seem to be very fond of meat, although I expect that will change when all his molars are in. He LOVES yogurt and, of course, ice cream and gelato. Sometimes I feel like I am feeding him all day long. He eats soooo much!!! In the video below he his eating a lime.

Titan is .....Adventurous. Titan loves to go down slides at the park. He loves to go up and down the stairs. He loves to ride in the bike trailer. He loves to splash in the tub or a pool. The video below is in the pool at our friends house in Phoenix.

Titan is ....14 months old and almost a TODDLER (uuugh! My baby is growing way to fast). Titan has a toy train that is just the perfect size for pushing around while learning to walk. He holds on to it an almost RUNS. (I'll post a video of that when I get one)

Six Teeth and Crawling!

Titan broke two new teeth yesterday! (April 27, 08) Now he has four on top and two on bottom. He has been showing the normal teething signs - being cranky, not eating as much, pulling his ears, etc. I am glad they are now in because he is normally such an easy, happy little guy.

He is also working on his crawling. It only takes him 5 seconds to move across the room to get to toy now. He is not actually "crawling" yet. The floors here in Italy are all hard wood or marble- no carpet. So all he really has to do is just pull himself across the floor on his belly. He is getting to where he wants to go, just not lifting his belly up off the floor to do it. Sometimes he looks like he is doing the "inchworm" crawl and sometimes he does the "army" crawl and other times he looks like he is doing the butterfly stroke. All of them are especially cute!

The past few days have been pretty nice weather wise. I took Titan outside to play in the front yard a couple of times. Both times the neighbor kid, Ivan,came over and played with Titan. The first time Titan had a blast with him and the second time he barely noticed that Ivan was there. Ivan's dog, Reghina, also came over. Titan liked to watch her but she did not get close enough to Titan for him to actually touch her. Titan loves dogs! He squeals and smiles every time Rocky walks into view. Yesterday we had some friends over for dinner and they brought their two Chow/Lab mixes. Titan loved them. He made funny faces when they licked his face. In a couple weeks we will be dog-sitting those two dogs, so I am glad that Titan and they got along so well.

Here are a couple clips of Titan "Crawling"

Titan has the "mamas"

Recently Titan has developed a case of the "MAMAS". If I leave the room Titan will start fussing. He does not really cry unless he is hungry or have a messy diaper. He will just fuss for a few moments if I leave the room. The other day I was at church and I left him with a friend while I checked on some of the teachers. When I returned, someone told me that Titan watched me as I left the room and started squawking the moment the door closed behind me. He calmed down pretty quickly though, thanks to sucking on his thumb. But he was pretty sad.
It makes me happy to see that he wants me around and that he loves me. It is so incredibly sweet. But it also kind of scares me at the same time. I love that he wants to be with me, but it makes getting things done so much harder. I have also noticed that he wants to be held a lot more now. He is not content to be on the blanket with a few toys anymore. He wants me to hold him and play with him all the time now. I have to sometimes just let him cry while I put on my shoes or brush my teeth. He gets the biggest smile when I play with him though. I love that huge smile!